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Having worked a wide variety of manual labor before landing my career jobs - I'd rather sit in a heated cubicle / office / open landscape and hate my work, than

Having worked a wide variety of manual labor before landing my career jobs - I'd rather sit in a heated cubicle / office / open landscape and hate my work, than to be outside (or in factory) hating work. For the past years I've seen so many people romanticize trade jobs, but truth be told, many of those jobs absolutely suck compared to "normal" white-collar jobs. The tasks are extremely repetitive, working conditions are worse, working hours can be worse, your body wears out. My mother emigrated in her early 20's, and worked for around 10 years in a fish factory, filleting fish. She had to quit after injuring her arms - like many of her co-workers did. They'd fillet fish for 8 hours a day, in damp and cold conditions. She then went to college, and got her degree in preschool teaching - which she loved. She loved working with children, and it's easy to get work. But after 15 years in that, once and she got injured - turns out working with preschoolers is also a pretty physical job. She's not even 60, but has multiple chronic injuries from her previous employments.

kelseydh 5y ago
One thing I’ve always admired with physical jobs is the natural level of physical exercise and human interaction that can come with them. It’s very easy to become schlubby and introverted from sedentary office work. Your job will change you.
- selfhoster11 5y ago
  At least for human interaction, your job is what you make of it. Granted, it's much easier when you're in the same office as your co-workers rather than remote.
- TrackerFF 5y ago
  It should be mentioned that IF you work for a great employer, they will try to make the workplace more safe for their workers - buying equipment which reduced injuries related to stress and repetitive work. But even then, sometimes it's just very hard to get around certain tasks. I used to work as an electrician for a year (apprenticeship), which is regarded as a pretty lucrative and interesting profession - but I quickly discovered that the work was quite taxing on my shoulders, neck, and arms. After all, some days you'd be standing on a folding ladder for hours, doing work on things mounted to the ceiling. Other professions have their own unique injuries, that you'll see time and time again. Best of both worlds would be to work as an engineer, supervisor, or similar in those professions. Half of you work involves office work, the other half being out in the field...but without having to do all the dirty work. Half of the guys I worked with as an apprentice, ended up pursing college in their 30's, aiming to become Engineers.
selfhoster11 5y ago
This. People underestimate how hard physical labour is. I'd rather do anything computer related than manual work.
trabant00 5y ago
Is manual labor the only other option to IT?
- thorin 5y ago
  In terms of access to poor people...maybe. In the UK trades jobs can be picked up and pay well if you work hard and have an aptitude. Factory work paid very well for skilled / semi-skilled workers AND had good benefits. Anyone can access programming as a career, but not so easy to access accountancy/finance/law etc.

kelseydh 5y ago

One thing I’ve always admired with physical jobs is the natural level of physical exercise and human interaction that can come with them. It’s very easy to become schlubby and introverted from sedentary office work. Your job will change you.

selfhoster11 5y ago
At least for human interaction, your job is what you make of it. Granted, it's much easier when you're in the same office as your co-workers rather than remote.
TrackerFF 5y ago
It should be mentioned that IF you work for a great employer, they will try to make the workplace more safe for their workers - buying equipment which reduced injuries related to stress and repetitive work. But even then, sometimes it's just very hard to get around certain tasks. I used to work as an electrician for a year (apprenticeship), which is regarded as a pretty lucrative and interesting profession - but I quickly discovered that the work was quite taxing on my shoulders, neck, and arms. After all, some days you'd be standing on a folding ladder for hours, doing work on things mounted to the ceiling. Other professions have their own unique injuries, that you'll see time and time again. Best of both worlds would be to work as an engineer, supervisor, or similar in those professions. Half of you work involves office work, the other half being out in the field...but without having to do all the dirty work. Half of the guys I worked with as an apprentice, ended up pursing college in their 30's, aiming to become Engineers.

selfhoster11 5y ago

This. People underestimate how hard physical labour is. I'd rather do anything computer related than manual work.

trabant00 5y ago

Is manual labor the only other option to IT?

thorin 5y ago
In terms of access to poor people...maybe. In the UK trades jobs can be picked up and pay well if you work hard and have an aptitude. Factory work paid very well for skilled / semi-skilled workers AND had good benefits. Anyone can access programming as a career, but not so easy to access accountancy/finance/law etc.